First tank cycling!

thewatchmengoby · Jan 2, 2026

Tank is cycling since 12/27. Going to wait a little longer and add a pair of black storm clowns! Will also add some super easy coral at that time like GSP. I switched the power head to the other side because it was blowing my sand out of the front corner. Would you add a random flow nozzle and or upgrade to a Nero 3?
Having fun so far! Love staring at my rock work. Can only imagine the joy of staring at fish!

steveschuerger · Jan 2, 2026

Nice little tank. I had a Tunze powerhead/wavemaker in a 16 cube myself. I love Neros but if you want much less expensive with similar results, Jebao/Jecode wavemakers are a good choice.

Boosted2kSi · Jan 2, 2026

I agree ^

Plenty of good nano options on Amazon for a good price. All you really need is one with a controller though. With such a small tank, those constant flow power heads are harder to dial in.

Being able to turn it down or randomize the pattern will both help placement for optimal position as well as life and growth of any coral once you start growing as they like random indirect(for the most part) flow.

Fish Fan · Jan 2, 2026

Nice start, good luck!

EnterName · Jan 2, 2026

It is possible to add corals this early, but I can highly recommend waiting until the ugly phase has passed. The tank is basically brand new and in a few weeks diatoms will discolor the substrate and in severe cases also your rocks. They will drain the available nutrients quite fast and after they are gone, green hair algae will take over. This is quite a hostile environment for a coral (even robust ones), especially when dinoflagellates or cyanobacteria join which isn't uncommon during this early stage.

If you haven't set up a reef tank before I can recommend waiting until the green hair algae starts to die down before adding any corals.

TJ42 · Jan 3, 2026

Nice setup! I like the aquascape

kevgib67 · Jan 3, 2026

Fan of the scape as well, love the swim through.

thewatchmengoby · Jan 3, 2026

EnterName said:
It is possible to add corals this early, but I can highly recommend waiting until the ugly phase has passed. The tank is basically brand new and in a few weeks diatoms will discolor the substrate and in severe cases also your rocks. They will drain the available nutrients quite fast and after they are gone, green hair algae will take over. This is quite a hostile environment for a coral (even robust ones), especially when dinoflagellates or cyanobacteria join which isn't uncommon during this early stage.

If you haven't set up a reef tank before I can recommend waiting until the green hair algae starts to die down before adding any corals.

Could feeding the coral mitigate the ugly stage effects at all?

thewatchmengoby · Jan 3, 2026

kevgib67 said:
Fan of the scape as well, love the swim through.

Thank you both! I wanted to create a space for the fish to feel safe and shaded even with the light on. It ended up coming out better than I could have hoped for! Can’t wait to see my clowns swimming in and out.

AgentKooper · Jan 3, 2026

Looks good! I agree on taking things really slow. If it were me, I'd wait for diatoms/algae to show up and then get a clean up crew established before adding fish and coral. Is that dry rock? If so, I'd also recommend getting a pound or two of live rock rubble from somewhere like KP Aquatics and adding that to the tank as well. But that's all stuff I learned from setting up my first tank, and I wouldn't have been patient enough to follow my advice back then!

As far as the Nero 3, I recommend highly. I have one in my 13.5g (as well as three in my 50g), and it's been great, following a couple cheap Jebaos that were a pain to program and crapped out after a few months.

AgentKooper · Jan 3, 2026

thewatchmengoby said:
Could feeding the coral mitigate the ugly stage effects at all?

Keeping your nutrients up could help mitigate the ugly stage somewhat (as opposed to letting the nutrients bottom out), but just feeding your fish should accomplish that. Be careful not to overdo it.

AgentKooper · Jan 3, 2026

Duplicate post deleted

EnterName · Jan 3, 2026

thewatchmengoby said:
Could feeding the coral mitigate the ugly stage effects at all?

I have not tested this yet, but if nutrient levels drop too much, it might prevent corals from starving for a while. I still don't think they will be happy for long, as usually a majority of their nutritional needs (around 2/3 if I remember correctly) are met through freely dissolved nutrients and photosynthesis of their zooxanthellae instead of digestible food.

It is very common for dinoflagellates or cyanobacteria to appear during the ugly phase. If these or green hair algae start to cover/irritate the corals, it will get more and more difficult to keep them alive. Especially since they were just added to a tank and need to acclimate first.

I personally wouldn't risk it. I know there are many people that aim to stock tanks fast so algae doesn't even get a chance to grow, but I'm not fully convinced that this works reliably and is a good approach for a first tank.